L'album MDNA a été entendu par de nombreux sites, journaux et médias cette semaine. Tous accueillent l'album d'une manière très positive et insistent sur le fait que Madonna reste la reine incontestée de la Pop mondiale ! Voici les critiques que vous pouvez trouver sur le web.
Rolling Stone
Early one morning the sun was shining and she was lying in bed, wondering why he had her cash and if her hair was still red. An idea for a song bubbled, and she wasn’t sure if this one should be about heartbreak, revenge or the old get-into-the-groove thing. And then – light bulb! – why not multitask it? That was her therapy, after all. Failure? Not an option. Resistance to her will? Futile. The husband who was no longer there? Well, it was nice sometimes to imagine his head popping like a melon. Till death and all that. Now — where did she put her phone?
Yup, MDNA is our lady’s divorce album. Seven out of 16 songs address her split directly, and that’s low-balling if you think the chick with “fake tits and a nasty mood” in “Some Girls” could be the lingerie model who became Guy Ritchie’s new baby mama.
Revealing herself has always been part of her art, and this is hardly her first album that’s dark, messy and conflicted. But MDNA stands as Madonna’s most explicit work. Only who would have expected her to be this explicit with her… feelings?
How explicit?
“Wake up, ex-wife/This is your life.”
“I tried to be you wife/Diminished myself, I swallowed my light.”
“Lawyers/Suck it up/Didn’t have a prenup.”
“Every man that walks through that door will be compared to you for evermore.”
She’s been personal, but never this detailed before. In part, it’s an old punk-rock impulse: Show the world no one can hurt you more than you hurt yourself. Except she has cross-wired exposure and pain, which gives this set of confessions their discomforting immediacy.
As the beats swirl, Madonna pursues release, vows to rise above and wishes things had turned out differently. She also sings about new love (fits like a glove), and asks for someone to lick the frosting off her cake on “B-Day Song.” The music chases the latest articulations of club land ecstasy, but often returns to the blend of synth-driven electro and Sixties-pop classicism she’s staked out since “Like a Prayer.” Back after a 12-year layoff is William Orbit, who handles the most pained tracks (including “Gang Bang,” which bitch-slaps Ritchie’s shoot’em -up aesthetic with a nod to Kill Bill). New in town is Martin Solveig, the French producer behind the cheerleader fantasy of “Give me all your Luvin’” who is forced to curb his love of Prince, in service of sounding like William Orbit. Handling the big dance-floor tracks are Italian duo Benny and Alle Benassi, who put the empty boom of the club into songs like “Girl Gone Wild.”
Hooks emerge quickly; there’s lots of naughtiness for the DJ to bring back, and the music has depth that rewards repeated listening. The first impression is a desperation most people will mistake for Madonna’s old impulse for commercial connection. That’s never far away, but this is something far more personal. There’s something remarkable about Madonna’s decision to share her suffering the way she once shared her pleasure. Her music has always been about liberation from oppression, but for the first time the oppression is internal: loss and sadness. Stars – they really are just like us.
Key Tracks: “I Don’t Give A,” “B-Day Song,” “Love Spent”
Joe Levy – 3.5 / 5.
The Star Observer
The Star Observer’s resident entertainment writer Nick Bond visited Universal Music’s head offices this morning and sat down for the first Australian listen of Madonna’s new album MDNA, out next Friday. Here’s his track-by-track verdict on the queen of pop’s 12th studio album.
GIRL GONE WILD
No doubt you’ve heard this one by now — it’s the second single. Things start promisingly with a melodramatic spoken-word prayer intro (very Act of Contrition) but soon go downhill once the song kicks off: for a party song about going wild, Madge has never sounded so bored and lifeless. There are ingredients for a solid Confessions-esque dance song here, but the production (courtesy of the Benassi brothers) sucks the drama out of the song — it’s rushed and monotone throughout. And once you’ve seen the bizarre unofficial parody video that’s been circulating over Facebook in the past few weeks, it’s hard to listen to it the same way again (YouTube ‘Madonna Girl Gone Wild Official Music Video’ if you want a giggle). But fear not, dear readers: there’s much, MUCH better to come…
GANG BANG
…Like this. A bizarre (that’s a good thing) five-plus minute mix of pulsating beats and super-dark lyrics. Rifles crack in the background as Madonna snarls one of the album’s most memorable choruses: “Bang bang, shot you dead/shot my lover in the head”. It’s a little bit Nancy Sinatra, a little bit trance. Trancy Sinatra? In the song’s final minute, the camp melodrama gets ratcheted up as both the music and lyrics become more and more aggressive, with Madge finishing the track screaming like a ’70s sexploitation siren: “Drive bitch! And while you’re at it, die bitch!”
I’M ADDICTED
This wall-of-sound electro house banger sounds like Girl Gone Wild done right. The track builds from quiet verses into an ear-splitting ’90s house chorus. Lyrically, we get our first nod to the true inspiration for the album’s title — “Flows through my body igniting my brain/it’s like MDMA”. “I need to DANCE,” Madge growls at one point, and it’s hard to argue with her.
TURN UP THE RADIO
Earmarked as the campaign’s third single, this really should’ve been our first taster of MDNA. It’s producer Martin Solveig’s best track on the album — gorgeous ’80s Madonna verses give way to an immensely catchy chorus, and Madge’s vocals are at their sugary best. Basically, it’s the antithesis of Girl Gone Wild — a party song about having fun that ACTUALLY SOUNDS FUN.
GIVE ME ALL YOUR LUVIN’
We’ve all heard it, and — judging by the pisspoor chart positions — very few of us like it. We maintain the unpopular opinion that it’s a great ’60s-influenced slice of dance-pop, with killer (if all-too-short) verses from Nicki Minaj and MIA. In the context of the songs around it, though, it certainly screams ‘album track’ rather than ‘comeback single’.
SOME GIRLS
A solid electro-glam stomper. Not the strongest track here, either lyrically or musically, but comes with a VERY William Orbit bridge that could’ve been lifted straight off the Ray of Light album.
SUPERSTAR
A gorgeous slice of effortless Madonna pop fluff, in the vein of True Blue or Cherish. Lourdes provides backing vocals but we couldn’t hear her – what we could hear were lyrics that ranged from the sublime (“like John Travolta, getting into the groove”) to the ridiculous (never has the phrase “You can have the password to my phone” been delivered with such gravitas). Sadly, also comes with the most unwelcome dubstep interlude in a song since Vanessa Amorosi’s Gossip.
I DON’T GIVE A
Lyrically, this one treads a similar path to American Life, It’s Madonna in defence mode, telling us all just how hard it is being head of the global empire that is Madonna Inc. Probably not her most GFC-friendly track, but we could see Gina Rinehert getting down to this one. Musically, it’s the damp squib that was Hard Candy done right: pop-flavoured hip-hop, with a guest verse from Nicki Minaj. Nicki announces, “There’s only one queen and that’s Madonna, BITCH!” before a demented orchestral finish — grandiose choirs, crashing cymbals and escalating strings.
I’M A SINNER
Produced by William Orbit, this comes off like an updated version of Beautiful Stranger and Amazing. Could’ve been on Ray of Light or Music (this is a very very good thing — we love you William Orbit!) This ain’t no church confessional — it’s Madonna at her most joyful: “I’m a sinner/I like it that way” runs the chorus. There’s even a bridge in which Madge namechecks Jesus, the Virgin Mary and a few saints in dismissive, tongue-in-cheek fashion. Sure to piss a few people off.
LOVE SPENT
A very nice surprise — the one-minute clip that’s been circulating doesn’t do this track justice. With banjos, video game noises, strings and electro beats, this is Orbit’s most eclectic production. Top-shelf pop, with more of those gorgeously sugary ’80s-era vocals from Madonna.
MASTERPIECE
Keen fans will have already heard this one as it surfaced late last year on the soundtrack to Madonna’s film W.E. It’s nice to hear her in ballad mode — something of a rarity these days — but this isn’t one of her best. If stunning soundtrack ballad Time Stood Still (from the 2000 film The Next Best Thing) never found its way onto a Madonna album, then this shouldn’t either. It does have a lovely, folksy chorus, but the song’s central conceit — comparing a lover to a priceless work of art — is stretched to absolute breaking point by song’s end.
FALLING FREE
That’s better! A classic Madonna ballad, her first in many years. Stunning vocals, a tasteful smattering of trademark Orbit blips and bleeps, and lush strings, it’s reminiscent of American Life album closer Easy Ride. Lyrically, it’s about making peace with the end of a relationship — the first lyrical hint about her failed marriage to Guy Ritchie, of which there’s more to come.
DELUXE EDITION BONUS TRACKS
BEAUTIFUL KILLER
A tidy slice of pure pop with a VERY Martin Solveig electro riff. A great chorus and a fantastic breakdown with Papa Don’t Preach strings. Should’ve earned a place on the album proper (in place of Masterpiece, if you ask us).
I FUCKED UP
Madonna in confessional mode, as she claims at least partial responsibility for the demise of a relationship. Lyrically, she’s at her most raw and interesting. Musically, though, it’s all rather tame — a lighters-aloft power ballad.
B-DAY SONG
The ‘60s vibe of this track is heralded from its opening line “…and the beat goes on.” A collaboration with MIA, it’s a daft homage to girl groups of yesteryear. The very definition of ‘bonus track’, but a cute little oddity nonetheless.
BEST FRIEND
Again, Madonna in reflective, confessional mode. “I feel like I lost my best friend,” she sings as she lists — in intimate detail — exactly what she misses about an ex-partner. Musically, though, this one’s a bit naff — stuttering, R&B-lite beats that reminded us of Kylie’s career misstep, Red-Blooded Woman.
VERDICT:
Wisely ignoring the flaccid R&B that stunk up much of Hard Candy, MDNA sees Madonna cherry-picking the best bits of her previous few albums and making them new: the thumping dance beats of Confessions, the quiet introspection of American Life, the William Orbit squiggle-pop of Ray of Light. In doing so, she sacrifices cohesion — this feels more like a collection of songs than an ‘album’ — but comes up trumps way more often than not.
4 STARS
info: MDNA (Universal) is out in Australia on Friday, March 23.
The Daily Telegraph
YOU have to wonder why Madonna didn't insist on a strip search.
Critics privileged to preview her new album MDNA had to hand in their phones and their bags before sitting down in a record company boardroom yesterday.
You just can't trust anyone these days.
MDNA is the many shades of Madonna finally brought together on one album. Opening track Girl Gone Wild reaffirms her mission to be a dancefloor diva who is one step ahead of the pack.
While her pop princess peers have been riding the 90s Euro house bandwagon for the past three years, Her Madgesty takes a defiant detour into darker, edgier and harder territory. Less wave your hands in the air and more get down and get dirty.
You can hear it most strongly on the underground hardcore of Gang Bang which finds Madonna shooting her lover dead and heading straight to hell. It sounds like The Kills if they went electronic and you'll be hearing the lyrical hook "Drive bitch!'' everywhere for the rest of the year.
Those who grew up with poptastic Madonna need not fear - she has not forsaken you. Like any song with "radio'' in its title, you can expect to hear Turn Up The Radio all over the airwaves. Co-written with French electronic DJ and producer Martin Solveig, it is one of the bigger pop songs on the album and follows a similar template to his smash hit Hello.
Superstar features her daughter Lourdes on backing vocals, I'm A Sinner sounds like Donna Summer doing a less bombastic version of Bollywood while Falling Free is a heart-striing ballad with stripped-back strings and simple synths and the album's bravest vocal performance.
One of the standout tracks is Beautiful Killer, which is earmakred for the deluxe version only.
Inspired by French film star Alain Delon, the songs sounds like it was plucked from a Cafe Del Mar compilation circa mid 1990s. Fans should get the deluxe version which includes other bonus tracks including Best friend, B-Day Song and I F...ed Up which are some of her stronger songs. Why they didn't make the "standard'' version is a mystery unless you are one of those cynical types who suspect her record label may be trying to get a few more bucks out of her fans.
MDNA is out on March 23.
The National
The agony and the ecstasy of Madonna's MDNA
Madonna chose to announce her 2012 world tour immediately after her head-turning performance at the Super Bowl in February. Watched by 114 million TV viewers in the US - and millions more around the world - her half-time pop medley was a formidable statement of intent from the indefatigable 53-year-old.
Her 12-minute appearance featured an eclectic and energetic mix of performers, from Greek warriors, Cirque du Soleil acrobats and a gospel choir, to a high school marching band and cameos from Cee Lo Green, Nicki Minaj, M.I.A and LMFAO. Oh, and there was Madonna as well, who sung five pop classics and her new single Give Me All Your Luvin'. Little wonder there has since been such demand for her first live shows in the Gulf. But what can ticket-holders expect to get for their money when she arrives in Abu Dhabi?
Thankfully, these days, Madonna is willing to sing almost all of her classic hits. During 2001's Drowned World tour - which was, at the time, her first live outing in eight years - she attracted criticism for overlooking her older and more popular songs. Just one song from The Immaculate Collection, a 1990 singles compilation widely considered to contain the crown jewels of Madonna's back catalogue, appeared on that tour's set list.
Madonna would later manage to overcome her aversion to her past hits for the Re-Invention tour in 2004. American Life, the album she was promoting at the time, had received a cool reception from both fans and critics so she peppered her live set with her most famous songs: Vogue, Like a Prayer, Express Yourself, Into the Groove and Material Girl.
She continued to blend the old and the new on her two most recent expeditions, 2006's Confessions tour and 2008's Sticky & Sweet tour. However, when an artist has more than 70 hit singles to pick from - spanning three decades of chart success - someone's favourite song will always be left out. True Blue, a number one in 1986, hasn't been performed live since the year after it was released.
But anyone arriving at Yas Arena expecting a nostalgia-soaked trip down memory lane might be in for a shock. Madonna loves to give her familiar hits a contemporary twist - as she showed at the Super Bowl, where she reworked 2000's Music to include elements of Party Rock Anthem and Sexy and I Know It, both recent chart-toppers from US pop-rap duo LMFAO.
Of course, she also has a new album to promote, and MDNA doesn't sound like the work of a veteran artist who's ready to rest on her past successes. Even the LP's title, MDNA, is wilfully challenging. Taken at face value, MDNA works as a simple and snappy abbreviation of the star's name. It could also be construed as conveying the very essence of Madonna - if the singer is "M", then this record represents her musical "DNA".
But the controversy stems from its intentional resemblance to the chemical name for the banned drug "Ecstasy" or MDMA. Lucy Dawe, a spokesperson for the anti-drug campaign group Cannabis Skunk Sense, called the title "an ill-advised decision". When asked about the matter, Madonna told the BBC that she just "liked the play on words. It's a triple entendre".
Ecstasy is, of course, often associated with the electronic dance music scene and there's quite a lot of that genre on MDNA. Madonna's chosen collaborators here are all notable names from the world of club pop.
Track-by-track review of Madonna's MDNA
1. Girl Gone Wild: Benny Benassi-produced electro-pop thumper that gets better the more (and louder) you play it.
3. I’m Addicted: Catchy club tune that’s like a post-Guetta take on her mid-Noughties work Confessions on a Dance Floor.
4. Turn Up the Radio: Infectious paean to escapism that recalls her 2006 hit Get Together. This should have been MDNA’s lead single.
5. Give Me All Your Luvin’ feat. Nicki Minaj & M.I.A: The actual lead single, as performed at the Super Bowl, is a lighter pop morsel than most on the album.
6. Some Girls: “I’d never wanna be like some girls,” Madonna sings on this vocodered electro tune that’s as sinewy as her gym-toned arms.
7. Superstar: On which she compares her new boyfriend to Marlon Brando, James Dean, Bruce Lee and, erm, Abe Lincoln.
8. I Don’t Give A: Guy Ritchie should skip this mid-tempo electro track, which references his failed marriage to Madonna in unflattering terms.
9. I’m a Sinner: Co-produced by William Orbit, this recalls three of their previous hook-ups: Ray of Light, Beautiful Stranger and Amazing.
10. Love Spent: This banjo-flecked banger features a fabulous middle 8.
11. Masterpiece: Golden Globe winner from the soundtrack to the film W.E. Would slot neatly onto Something to Remember.
12. Falling Free: This cascading, string-swathed ballad is the loveliest thing Madonna’s sung in almost a decade.
13. Beautiful Killer: One of four bonus tracks is decent rather than dazzling. Nice Papa Don’t Preach strings though.
14. I F***** Up: Madonna’s remorseful on this mid-tempo confessional, which recalls her 2003 album American Life.
15. B-day Song feat M.I.A: A fun throwaway that could soundtrack a nightclub scene from an Austin Powers movie.
16. Best Friend: MDNA ends on an affecting note, as Madonna mourns a relationship: “I feel like I lost my very best friend.”
17. Give Me All Your Luvin’ (Party Rock Remix): MDNA’s first single is remixed into a club banger.
NME
The Material Girl returns with her 12th studio album. Is it any cop? Let’s find out....
Girl Gone Wild
Though most will have heard this track already (it’s the second single off the album) it’s worth a recap. Produced by Benny Benassi, Madonna intros with a spoken word segment about how she wants "so badly to be good". As the album plays through, the strangeness of the single's choice will become more apparent. ‘Girl Gone Wild’ does little to set the listener up for what’s about to come next.
Gang Bang
With an intro consisting of a revving engine and a solid four-to-the-floor beat, ‘Gang Bang’ is Madge Gone Industrial. We’re certainly not mentioning another blonde female artist who also took inspiration from German Industrial on her last album, but we’re in the same ball park. It’s exciting. Madonna’s ditched the faux English accent and the mood is tense. It feels like something's about to snap as she declares “You were building my coffin/ you were driving my hearse". Ubiquitous Dubstep wobble aside, the track tails off into a wonderful 'Faster Kill Pussycat' segment, with Madge singing “Drive bitch and while you're at it die bitch!”
I’m Addicted
Electronic ripples open the track into something that sounds like ‘Momma's Place’-era Roisin Murphy. There are some nudging references to Killer Rave Drugs as Madonna sings "It's like MDMA and that's OK". There’s another dubsteppy breakdown that ends with her chanting "MDNA" over an electro explosion. We can't wait to see this live.
Turn Up the Radio
This is the first of the six Martin Solveig-produced tracks on the album(including the bonus tracks). There’s a Dragonette style vocal and lyrics about music helping you to forget your woes. It’s quite sweet, and leads nicely into the next track...
Give Me All Your Luvin
...which is still amazing.
Some Girls
The first William Orbit cut (of five). Direct and bitchy, Madonna’s vocals are treated and hidden beneath a heavy bass. It’s a mid-tempo track with a chorus of "Some girls are not like me / I never want to be like some girls".
Superstar
This track feels a bit lightweight amongst the others. There’s a Katy Perry vibe. The "Oh la la you're my superstar" chorus seems like a incongruous filler with the cheeky cringey teen lyrics: "You're like Abe Lincoln because you fight for what's right". Maybe Lourdes helped her with this one?
I Don’t Give A
Lyrically, this is a list of all the things that Madonna has to do: "Message manager no time for a manicure". It avoids turning into ‘American Life’ thanks to Madonna letting a little bit of her guard down: "I tried to be a good girl I tried to be your wife". Nicki Minaj's guest spot is relaxed and ends with the immortal line: "There's only one queen and that's Madonna, bitch".
I’m A Sinner
A psychy track that feels like a mix of Peaches and Martha And The Vandellas. It sounds fresh, and tongue firmly in cheek Madonna lists some saints over a "Wo-oh-ah" backing vocal.
Love Spent
Though ‘Love Spent’ could come across as a kind of 'Exquisite Corpse' of a track (banjo intro, then violins, then spoken word) it’s really brilliant. Madonna channels ABBA-level spousal hurt as she sings "Hold me like your money, tell me that you want me, spend your love on me".
Masterpiece
The track from W.E. It sounds a bit zzzz here to be honest.
Falling Free
Elegant and classy, the warped piano sounds of the final track on the album proper is a fitting end. This icy ballad fits far better than ‘Masterpiece’ as Madonna addresses a problem she wishes she could forget: "When I move a certain way I feel an ache I've kept at bay".
Beautiful Killer
Yep, you guessed it: beautiful filler, more like.
I Fucked Up
It’s strange that this didn’t make it onto the main CD. This is the track that most critics have pegged to be about Guy Ritchie. Aside from the token French interlude, this is understated and excellent, and could easily have replaced ‘Masterpiece’.
B-Day Song
M.I.A. makes an appearance on this 60s-influenced Solveig track. Though there’s a line about how Madonna likes to spend her birthdays ("Give me a spanking start the day off right") it’s clear why this isn’t a main track.
Best Friend
Madonna lists things she misses in her partner. It sounds a bit like a vocodorized Max Martin track, which would normally be amazing, but in these circumstances, it doesn’t really fit.
So, is the Queen of Pop back on her throne? Just about. We’d pledge our allegiance anyway.
Billboard
"A collection of thoroughly pumping pop tunes, some of which are slices of sheer brilliance".Madonna is still very much the Queen of Pop.
Nearly 30 years after first hitting the Billboard charts in late 1982 with her debut single “Everybody,” Madonna is still showing the pop world how it’s done.
“MDNA” — her 12th studio album — is a collection of thoroughly pumping pop tunes, some of which are slices of sheer brilliance. Not only does Madonna take us to the club with “MDNA,” she exhausts us, drains us, and confides in us. Five minutes after an aerobic workout on the dance floor, we’re in her private booth, where she’s spilling her guts about relationships and how things just didn’t turn out the way they planned. Then, another five minutes later, we’re back to dancing up a storm to a song like “Gang Bang.”
Yes, “Gang Bang.”
The track is one of the album’s many stand-outs. It’s a dark, throbbing tune that is twisted and surprising and altogether pop-tastic. (Yes, that’s a word.)
Also notable is the summery pop nugget “Turn Up the Radio,” the full-throttle digital rave-up of “I’m Addicted” and the driving, clever word play of “Love Spent.”
“MDNA” reunites Madonna with her “Ray of Light” co-producer William Orbit, who polishes her songs with cosmic flourishes and rushes of fuzzy-retro bits. Madonna also enlists the production assistance of Martin Solveig, the Demolition Crew, Benny Benassi, Alle Benassi, Hardy “Indiigo” Muanza and Michael Malih.
Curiously, the set’s first single — the rah-rah “Give Me All Your Luvin’” — doesn’t properly prepare the listener for what they’re going to get on the album. Basically: set it aside and go into “MDNA” with a clean slate.
Here’s a Track-By-Track Take on “MDNA”:
“Girl Gone Wild” The second single from “MDNA” is also the dance floor-ready opening number from the set. In a way, it’s very dance-by-the-numbers with Madonna — a “good girl gone wild” — singing about her “burning hot desire” to have some fun. The production is familiar Benny Benassi — all driving, thumping, electronic beats. It’s comparable to his remix of Madonna’s own “Celebration” single. The track does a good job of getting stuck in one’s head, thanks in large part to its “hey-yay-yay” sing-song chorus. One notable difference in hearing this track on a proper stereo setup with quality speakers: you get carried away a bit more by the “whoosh,” shall we say, of the song.
“Gang Bang” Commence freaking out, hard core Madonna fans, as “Gang Bang” is the song you’ve been waiting for. It’s dark, clubby, driving, thumping and altogether sickening. (Meaning: It’s fantastic, y’all.) Consulting our notes, the scribbles include the words “OMG,” “dubstep breakdown” and “GOD THE BEAT.” So yeah, it’s freaking amazing.
Eight songwriters, including British pop singer Mika (?!), collaborated on the song. On March 8, he Tweeted that it’s “weird as fuck, underground and lyrically cool, it’s amazing and bizarre. I love it, she sounds so good singing words so harsh.” Madonna sing/speaks over the tweaky production about how she keeps her “enemies close” and how she “shot my lover in the head.” Truly, “Gang Bang” is going to be one of the most talked-about tracks on the album and is completely unexpected after hearing “MDNA’s” first two singles (the cheery “Give Me All Your Luvin’” and dance-by-numbers “Girl Gone Wild”).
“Gang Bang’s” lyric “Drive bitch!” — so eloquently used in the song — will become quite the catchphrase in the coming months. (Notably, as “Gang Bang” is explicit — and perhaps un-editable — it will be omitted from the “clean” version of “MDNA.” A shame.)
“I’m Addicted” Hey, you wanna go dancing? We’ll meet Madonna at the club, as she’s got this fantastic, swirling, digital get-down number she wants to play for us. “Something happens to me when I hear your voice and I have no choice,” Madonna sings on the hypnotic, Daft Punk-y song. And when Madonna says in a cool, instructive tone, “I need to dance,” you know what — you’ll need to dance too. (And now we know where the title of the album comes from, as Madonna chants “MDNA” in “I’m Addicted.”)
“Turn Up the Radio” A cousin to “Girl Gone Wild,” this tune is a summery pop number that’s as effortless as it is simple. It’s mindless fun where Madonna sings about how the “temperature’s pounding’” and longing to “escape” and how she’s “sick and tired of playing this game.” (Haven’t we heard that before? Enough with the games Madonna!) — Basically the point of the song here is: “turn up the radio until the speakers blow.” While the lyrics aren’t provocative or necessarily new, it’s still a peppy little tune that would sound great “on the radio.”
“Give Me All Your Luvin” (featuring Nicki Minaj & M.I.A.) You’ve already heard “Give Me All Your Luvin’,” the album’s lead single, which peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The throwback cheerleader-like song almost seems like it was a commercial for Madonna’s Super Bowl halftime show as opposed to a proper promotional single for “MDNA.” Its lyrics and vibe aren’t indicative of “MDNA” as a whole and mislead the listener into thinking the album is going to be full of singsongy jingles with by-the-numbers lyrics.
“Some Girls” The album’s second William Orbit co-production, “Some Girls” will likely remind listeners of his work on the “Ray of Light” album. The tune has his trademark swirly, cosmic-like flourishes that zig-zag out of the speakers. On the track, Madonna lyrically references herself with the line “put your loving to the test” (oh hay “Express Yourself!”) whilst elsewhere singing “I never wanna be like some girls.”
“Superstar” Notably this track features the backing vocals of Madonna’s eldest child, Lourdes (credited as Lola Leon), and name checks everyone from Marlon Brando and Michael Jordan to Julius Caesar and Abraham Lincoln. The gist here is: “Ooh la la, you’re my superstar” and “I’m your biggest fan, it’s true.” Armed with yet another kicky dubstep bridge, Madonna also amusingly sings about how the “Superstar” subject of her devotion is “like John Travolta, getting into the groove.” (Get it? She’s referencing herself again — but in a smart, cheeky way.)
“I Don’t Give a F” (featuring Nicki Minaj) A very rat-a-tat-tat song, where Madonna barrels through a list of rants that vaguely reminds one of her rapping on the “American Life” single. She sings about how she “tried to be your wife” (Hey, Guy!) and “in the end it was a failure.” Nicki Minaj puts in her second appearance on the album, where she closes her feature with the swipe “There’s only one Queen and that’s Madonna. Bitch!” The song ends with a rather lengthy orchestral bit that’s epic and sweeping, but comes out of nowhere.
“I’m a Sinner” Reminiscent of William Orbit’s own Ultra Violet remix of the “Ray of Light” single, the chugging track is so very, very Orbit. It’s like the love child of “Beautiful Stranger” (another Orbit co-production) and “Ray of Light.” Mid-way through, Madonna gets inspirational and recites “Hail Mary full of grace / get down on your knees and pray” followed by “Jesus Christ hang on the cross, died for our sins it’s such a loss” and so on. (Yes, there’s more, but we couldn’t write that fast.)
“Love Spent” “You played with my heart, till death do we part,” Madonna sings on this driving, building track. It’s got these whooshes (yes, a technical term) that hark back to ’80s tracks like Kim Carnes’ “Bette Davis Eyes.” It’s a mesmerizing song that includes a wonderful little strummy bit (possibly a banjo?). The lyrics work some clever word play comparing love to money: “I want you to hold me like you hold your money / hold me in your arms till there’s nothing left.” Madonna co-wrote this track with a team of professional writers, and the assistance is evident and welcome. (We love you Madonna, but we also love it when you collaborate and produce amazing, beautiful pop, like “Love Spent.”)
“Masterpiece” This was the first taste the public got of “MDNA,” as it was unveiled late last year as the closing-credits song of the Madonna-directed film “W.E.” (Though, at the time, it was unclear if the track would ultimately turn up on “MDNA.”) The Golden Globe-winning track is very pretty — percolating along with a clicky little beat, an acoustic guitar and delicate strings. Madonna’s vocals are lovely, comparing someone to “a rare and priceless work of art.”
“Falling Free” The quite gorgeous ballad reunites Madonna with her brother-in-law Joe Henry, who has co-written at least one song now on four different Madonna albums. He co-penned “Don’t Tell Me” from 2000′s “Music” album, as well as “Jump” from “Confessions on a Dance Floor” and “The Devil Wouldn’t Recognize You” from the diva’s last set, 2008′s “Hard Candy.” As an album-closer, it’s perfect, with the lyric “I let loose the need to know / we’re both free — both free to go . . . ”
“Beautiful Killer” A concept song, certainly. Madonna goes on about how there’s a “gun in my mouth” and “maybe that’s what you’ve been dreaming about” and “maybe I’ll let you shoot me down.” There’s an persistent string element here that brings to mind “Papa Don’t Preach.”
“I F****d Up” It’s Madonna just straight out saying how craptacular a particular relationship turned out (we’re guessing her marriage to Guy Ritchie). She sings, “I’m so ashamed, you’re in so much pain,” “wish I could take it back” and how she “destroyed the perfect dream.” There’s a whole lot of “couldas” here that just strike us as odd, as Madonna never was the “I’m sorry” kind of gal. She’s all about no regrets and no apologies.
“B-Day Song” A fun girl-group ditty that’s a throw back to Madonna’s “True Blue” era of good time goof-off songs. It’s light, fluffy and effortless — and very stripped down. Think Go-Go’s meets Madonna with lyrics like “Light my candles,” “make a wish” and “give me a spankin’!” (Yes, really.) Sample silly lyrics include: “I wanna diamond, don’t give me a fake!”
“Best Friend” Perhaps too personal of a song to be included on the “standard” version of the album, “Best Friend” can only be read as being about her ex-husband, Ritchie. Absolutely confessional in tone, Madonna sings “I feel like I lost my very best friend” but she has “no regrets” and that she “survived the biggest test.” The song closes, monumentally, with the heartbreaking lyric: “It wasn’t always perfect, but it wasn’t always bad.”
“Give Me All Your Luvin’” (featuring Nicki Minaj & M.I.A.) (LMFAO Remix) LMFAO reworks “Give Me All Your Luvin’” party rock style, dumping M.I.A.’s rap for lyrical insertions from Redfoo and SkyBlu.
MTV
Madonna's MDNA: Swallowing It One Pill At A Time. MTV News takes a look at why Madge's upcoming album is a drug worth taking
Madonna wants us to dance the heartbreak away on MDNA. The record, set to drop on March 26, has some of the finest musical moments we've heard from the pop legend in the last few years, recalling the finer songs and themes she explored on Ray of Light and Confessions on a Dance Floor.
It's clear that Madge had her heart broken, most likely by her former hubby and British auteur, Guy Ritchie. She explores the pain of life post-divorce on many of the songs on the album, and most of the time, it works perfectly. Madonna really understands heartbreak and she understands even better how it can empower someone to be a better person.
While all the buzz seems to be about "I Don't Give A" and the bit too on-the-nose confessions she makes about her divorce (where she even sings about falling off a horse), her anger is even darker on the William Orbit-produced "Gang Bang."
Sparse at times and always punctuated by a pulsing beat, it's incredibly hard. It's the type of record you'd expect to hear at some after-hours club that your really edgy friend knows about. It's about falling completely in love and falling more deeply into hate when it's over. Serving as a pop-song revenge fantasy, Madonna sings, "And I'm going straight to hell/ And I've got a lot of friends there/ And if I see that b---- in Hell/ I'm gonna shoot him in the head again/ Cause I wanna see him die/ Over and over and over."
On the disco-tinged "Love Spent," Madge sings about feeling like nothing more than a bank to a former lover (she did have one very costly breakup from Ritchie), and on the remorseful, melodic "Best Friend," she admits, "Your picture's off the wall, but I'm still waiting for your call/ And every man that walks through the door/ Will be compared to you."
"Superstar" is light and airy, recalling some of the singer's highlights from the '80s. The mid-tempo's production, which comes courtesy of Hardy "Indiigo" Muanza, certainly helps distract from some of the sillier lyrics that have Madonna comparing her boy toy to famed dudes like Al Capone and James Dean.
If anyone was wondering why she called the album MDNA, all they need to do is look to "I'm Addicted," the super club-thumping track full of bleeping noises, spare moments and then big chugging ones, which are filled out with loopy instances. It's about letting go and loving someone completely: "Now that your name/ Pumps like blood in my veins/ Pulsing through my body, lighting my mind/ It's like MDNA and that's OK." MDNA, of course, is also known as ecstasy, giving the track the perfect metaphor for love on the dance floor.
While most of the album addresses the highs and lows of falling in love, "Some Girls" is all about Madonna proclaiming her awesomeness. Another Orbit jam, it's a crunchy, robotic, thumping anthem that puts Madonna right in the center of female empowerment. "I'm not like the rest," she proclaims, as if anyone would ever question that. "Some girls are second best." On the chorus, she declares, "Some girls are not like me/ I'm everything you've ever dreamed of/ I got you begging please."
One of the highlights is "Turn Up the Radio," which sounds like it was born to be this summer's feel-good anthem. It's bright, happy and fun, all about letting go of the past. Over Martin Solveig's sunny production, Madge sings, "It was time I opened my eyes/ I'm leaving the past behind/ Nothing's ever what it seems/ Including this time and this crazy dream."
She's not wrong to be that confident on this album. She's certainly in the groove. And the album is full of strength, but it's also her vulnerability that rounds it out. If fans thought link type="content" id="1678478">"Give Me All Your Luvin' " and "Girl Gone Wild" are what this era is all about, they are only seeing pieces of the MDNA puzzle, that's only completed when listening to the album from front to back. In the end, this album is a drug worth taking.
Los Angeles Times
Madonna’s new album, “MDNA,” which comes out March 26, is her first record in four years and her first since leaving her longtime home with Warner Bros. Records.
The singer arrives untethered to offer the first of a three-release deal via LiveNation/Interscope — and her newfound freedom isn’t limited to her professional life. Since her last album, “Hard Candy” in 2008, she and husband Guy Ritchie have divorced, and the combination of events seems to have pushed her to let loose both physically and lyrically.
This isn’t a review of the album — that will come closer to the release date. But as someone who’s been privy to an early copy of the record, here’s a little teaser.
On first listen, “MDNA” draws from the range of the singer’s styles — some hard dance tracks, some introspective ballads — while adding new producers into her world. These include, most notably, Frenchman Martin Solveig and the Italian producer Benny Benassi, best known Stateside for his work on Chris Brown’s “Beautiful People.” William Orbit, who has been one of Madonna’s key point men since “Ray of Light,” is a continued presence and helps pace the album’s waning moments with softer textures, including the luxurious “Love Spent.”
Madonna’s collaborations with Solveig, of which there are six on the 16-song deluxe version, are, overall, the kind of hard house productions (made with her underappreciated producer, Mirwais Ahmadzai) that helped make her 2000 album, “Music,” such a vibrant injection. One of the best bonus cuts on “MDNA,” “Beautiful Killer,” is supported by a ’70s-era disco string section. (Solveig will be performing as one of the dance-tent headliners at Coachella in April.)
And “I Don’t Give A,” produced by Madonna and Solveig, is a Daft Punk-style banger in which she addresses divorce: “I tried to be a good girl, tried to be your wife/Diminished myself, and swallowed my life/I tried to become all that you expect of me/And if it was a failure, I don’t give a …” There’s a dose of dubstep — replete with deep bass-drop — on the track, right before Nicki Minaj jumps in to reinforce Madonna’s argument: “When I let a dude go that’s his loss/I was cutting those checks I was his boss,” she sings, before declaring, ‘I’m not a businesswoman, I’m a business, woman.”
The final of the bonus tracks is by far the most personal; called “Best Friend,” it’s a love letter to a former beau, and listening to it you can’t help but draw the conclusion that its intended recipient is Ritchie. For someone who’s so often “a business, woman,” “Best Friend” is one of the most personal and moving songs of her career.
The Times
Madonna punches out younger rivals, not least Lady Gaga, with her new album, argues Will Hodgkinson.
A lot rides on Madonna’s new album. Her acting career never took off. W.E., her biopic of Wallis Simpson with the clunky parallels to Madonna’s own life, is a misguided exercise in narcissism. But on MDNA Madonna successfully returns to what she does best: hi-energy disco, as thrilling as it is unhealthy. Central to a 360-degree deal worth a reputed £40 million, the album, which features a host of producers and cameos from Nicki Minaj and M.I.A., sends out a clear message: there can only be one queen of pop.
Girl Gone Wild
Produced by Euro dance sensation Marco Benassi, this features a big thumping beat, an ultra-low electro bass, and Madonna’s voice, speeded up and put through a vocoder, carrying a pop song so cheesy it could have fallen off the last Britney Spears album. That’s not a dignified place for a 53-year-old woman to be, but this is one of those creations in which a series of unpleasant ingredients make a tasty meal. With lines like “I don’t want to be like them, I just want to have some fun,” it’s liberating in its meaninglessness.
Gang Bang
An ultra-modern musical setting gives the opportunity for Madonna to don a murderous sexpot persona. Over police sirens and an air of urban malevolence, Madonna lists, in a deadly calm voice, the horrors she will impart on a rival. These include not only shooting him/her in the head, but also going to Hell so she can shoot them all over again. Studying the Kabbalah doesn’t seem to have brought inner peace.
I’m Addicted
Here’s a return to the Madonna of old with a light piece of disco. Giorgio Morodor-style keyboard squiggles come and go, while a rave piano arrives half way through. Madonna sings about love feeling “like a drug, and I can’t get enough”. The Demolition Crew add club-friendly sounds.
Turn up the Radio
This is another dancefloor smash that will go down well at G.A.Y. “There’s a glow of light, calling you to go outside,” she sings, reviving the spirit of classics such as Ray of Light and Like a Prayer. Uplifting, escapist pop.
Give Me All Your Luvin’
As performed at the Super Bowl, with guest vocalists Nicki Minaj and M.I.A acknowledging their debt to the queen by spelling out her name in cheerleader shouts. It’s a great song until M.I.A ends her spot by saying “I don’t give a shit.” She sounds like she had second thoughts halfway through, so it comes out as “I don’t give a shirt.”
Some Girls
Not a Rolling Stones cover but another club tune, this one with odd electronic squiggles from producer William Orbit. She sings about “crying in a limousine”, presumably to reassure us that the rich and famous have problems too.
Superstar
The album’s first electric guitar before Madonna pays her lover a series of compliments. “You’re like Brando on the silver screen,” she says, which any man would like — more than “You’re like Caesar, stepping on to the throne.”
I Don’t Give A
The missing word of the title might well be “fig”, since this is the song in which Madonna comes to terms with the end of her marriage to Guy Ritchie and resulting loss of position in the British upper classes. “I tried to be a good girl, I tried to be the perfect wife,” she claims, before pretty much admitting this is a lie by saying in a robotic voice, “And if I was a failure, I don’t give a … [fig]”
I’m a Sinner
The best song on the album finds Madonna rejecting her Catholic upbringing and claiming that she’s happy to be a sinner. Once the cross goes in, however, it never comes out, and Madonna admits as much: “St Sebastian don’t you cry, let those poison arrows fly.”
Love Spent
This unremarkable disco filler is intended to pad out the album before the glorious climax. The music is boring but the words are intriguing: “You played with my heart, till death do us part, that’s what you said.” Is this an arm outstretched to Guy Ritchie?
Masterpiece
Madonna seems to be reflecting on the sadness of life’s impermanence here, as she sings about nothing being indestructible while admitting that she fell in love with someone’s work, or their masterpiece, rather than the person within. Rather schmaltzy, but with stirring strings, not unpleasant.
Falling Free
MDNA ends with a song of heartbreak that is tinged with cautious optimism. With her best, most natural vocal delivery on the album, Madonna sounds genuinely emotional — rare for her — as she describes a break-up and the bittersweet feeling of freedom its aftermath brings. A classical setting brings all the drama you want from Madonna: she may be strong, but she cries real tears. “We’re both free, free to go,” she sings, dabbing at the corner of her eye with a handkerchief.
MusicOMH
Yesterday we repaired to London’s Abbey Road Studios to waggle our ears just the once at Madonna’s new album MDNA. The Queen Of Pop’s first album for new label Interscope (Polydor in the UK), it sees her join forces with Italian housemeister Benny Benassi and France’s Martin Solveig, and team up again with Ray Of Light and Music cohort William Orbit.
Ahead of a standard-format review nearer to MDNA’s release date (26th March), Laurence Green runs through the album track by track…
Girl Gone Wild
Kicks off with a spoken word intro – already placing it in classic Madonna territory. It’s that ego-centricness of Confessions On A Dancefloor all over again, but with even louder beats. There’s the slick veneer of the commercial dance number here too, echoing recent Greatest Hits teaser single Celebration. The vocals aren’t Madonna’s best – a defining feature across the album – but when the clubland backing is so explosively loud, that’s hardly a detracting feature. There’s even a persistent energy of sorts to the vocals that, twinned with the buzz-saw synths, firmly establishes Girl Gone Wild as the sound of ‘now’. With its aping of the ‘girls just wanna have some fun’ refrain, there’s a real ’80s sentiment beating at the heart of the track too.
Gang Bang
“If I see that bitch in hell I’m gonna shoot them in the head again” – Madonna’s brawling for some action here, via a filthy, almost Erotica-esque onslaught of breathy vocals. It teases and plays, proper between the covers stuff; which you’d kind of expect from a song with a title as blatantly lewd as Gang Bang. At moments it all sounds like something off Daft Punk’s Tron soundtrack; hard techno, brutal, uncompromising and industrial. Gang Bang feels vital and on point in a way Madonna hasn’t sounded in years. There’s police sirens and an obliging dubstep middle-eight (there was always going to be one on the album, wasn’t there?) – Everything about Gang Bang is menacing and comes on at full-throttle, right down to Madonna’s flippant remark of “I’m going straight to hell”.
I’m Addicted
The burbly techno synths continue here, again it’s all very Tron-esque. If Confessions was dancey, I’m Addicted is dancey with a capital D. The bass positively explodes outwards and it’s refreshing to see Madonna putting out something with real punch. For an artist of her age and experience, she could easily rest on her laurels, and I’m Addicted is about as far away from that as it’s possible to get. Some rave synths get whacked into the mix too, like it’s 1991 all over again – this leads into a hyper-fast outro of the “MDNA!” hook, putting the track forward as a real centrepiece model for the rest of the album.
Turn Up The Radio
This is where the real Madonna melodies of old surface, mining the kind of exuberant stuff that characterised her ’80s greats – that playful spirit is well and truly back. As obvious as its airwaves-courting title might be, this is *the* big radio hit on the album, the kind stations up and down the country will lap up in the summer. There’s an incredible abundance of optimism here, a carefree abandon in thrilling degrees of magnitude. Here Madonna is the American queen triumphant, proclaiming “I wanna go fast and I’m gonna go far” in an up-and-at-em call of readiness for life and anything it chooses to throw at her.
Give Me All Your Luvin
In hindsight, and with the hype and drama of the Superbowl performance behind her, the truth is that Madonna doesn’t really need Nicki Minaj and M.I.A. on the album. In the wider scope of MDNA as a whole, they pale into the background – though to be fair to them, they’re a much better fit than Timbaland and Justin Timberlake were on Hard Candy. Clearly, the aspect of sisterhood combined has something going for it though, and it’s nice to hear Madonna so rejuvenated and youthful here, having some fun and laughs with her ‘hip’ pals.
Some Girls
The first of the five William Orbit tracks on the album, and it kicks off with yet more of the palpably massive levels of bass that mark out the record’s opening tracks. The industrial techno theme is continued too with a massive wedge of robotic treated vocals snaking out across the song. There’s a harking back to the more electronic moments of Music and American Life, everything pumping with the air of Madonna as superior, as the pinnacle of her contemporaries. As with Orbit’s Ray Of Light era productions, the track thrives on a sense of experimentalism that still remains effortlessly commercial at the same time.
Superstar
Ironically, Superstar isn’t one of the William Orbit tracks, but it sure sounds like one. It’s the album’s ‘rock’ track and stands as another prime single candidate. The melody is sublime, the kind of thing long-time Madonna fans have been waiting years for, and released here, it’s like a cleansing burst of pure radiance. Even the slightly shoe-horned in dubstep section can’t detract from the song, it’s that good.
I Don’t Give A
Here, the industrial influences meet hip-hop beats amongst a grinding cacophony of sound and borderline raps from Madonna (though thankfully it never reaches the silly, pretentious levels of the ill-fated American Life single). “I’m gonna live fast, and I’m gonna live life,” she claims, with a sort of wry simplicity, as if that’s all there is to it. It’s probably one of the album’s weaker tracks, stemming chiefly from the fact that – as Hard Candy proved – Madonna just can’t do ‘urban’ (Bedtime Stories excepted). Nicki Minaj pops up again and then the track descends into a weird cod-orchestral outro. It’s regality defined, and Nicki eagerly clamours to hold up Madonna as such: “There’s only one queen, and that’s Madonna, bitch.”
I’m A Sinner
That trademark psychedelic William Orbit sound is out in force here, with crunchy guitar riffs once again suggesting the Ray of Light era. There’s some lovely tinkling, celestially imbued synth bits and tribal sounds going on too. At times, it all feels a bit like Madonna’s about to don her Earth Mother makeover, and by any measure, this is definitely the album’s most religious track as she reels off names of saints.
Love Spent
The opening moments sound akin to the country n’ beats combo of Music’s Don’t Tell Me and while Love Spent takes some time to get going, it’s worth the wait. In the final choruses, everything all comes in at once, backed up by thunderclap beats – as far as firmly defined ‘album tracks’ go, this is a pretty good effort, even if it feels a little by-the-numbers at times.
Masterpiece
Yes, it might be a Madonna ballad of a certain esteemed ‘class’, and yes, it might be on the W.E. soundtrack, but that’s probably where it should have stayed. After the hi-energy pace of the rest of the album, Masterpiece feels out of place.
Falling Free
Compared to Masterpiece, Falling Free makes a far better stab at positioning itself as a ballad that fits into the wider context of MDNA. Echoey piano lines and string sections set up a lovely trippy vibe that shares more than a little in common with the likes of Drowned World/Substitute for Love. Falling Free sounds properly sumptuous; there’s a richness to its production that serves to close the album down as a real assertion of Madonna ‘the artist’. Her vocals here are excellent, both moving and tender in a way that genuinely touches at the heart. Like scented rose petals and jasmine cast loose on water, Falling Free has a rippling beauty to it that is utterly enchanting.
Beautiful Killer
The first of the bonus tracks, and of all the Martin Solveig-produced songs on MDNA, this sounds most stereotypically of his ‘style’. As is often the wont with bonus tracks, Beautiful Killer is pretty disposable, a bog standard clubland floorfiller – but the middle-eight is rather good.
I Fucked Up
A slow grind of swirly synths and guitar that feels restrained from ever becoming properly great because of that really quite cringeworthy title. It’s just one step too far on the crudeness barometer. But as with Beautiful Killer, the pace ups in the closing moments and the song improves with impressive agility. There’
B-Day Song
Featuring M.I.A., B-Day Song feels like the obvious counterpoint to Give Me All Your Luvin, with M.I.A. feeling far more at home here than she does on the album-proper. It’s bratty with a Material Girl punkiness to it but the chorus hook is predominantly more annoying than catchy, with only the choppy guitar riffs helping salvage affairs.
Best Friend
Another wary dip into a more urban soundbase, there’s some cute blippy GameBoy-style synths to play with here, but for the most part Best Friend sounds like an unfinished demo or drum machine exercise. There’s a bare boned minimalism to the track that, as with Beautiful Killer, sets it very much out as ‘just’ a bonus track.
In summary, whereas Hard Candy felt like it was grasping at fading trends, MDNA is far more Madonna just being Madonna. And that usually turns out best for everyone involved.
Examiner
San Diego’s Z90.3 will be premiering tracks from Madonna’s upcoming spectacular album MDNA starting on Friday, March 23. But you don’t have to wait—yesterday, we drove all the way to Los Angeles for a listening party. Needless to say, nearly getting in two accidents and driving in back-to-back rush hour traffic was worth it.
We won’t be able to post our full and detailed review until sometime closer to the release date. However, we can reveal our first impressions after listening to the album just once.
MDNA can best be described as Ray of Light on steroids. You can also throw in some Confessions on a Dance Floor. The first two singles don’t do this album justice. “Give Me All Your Luvin” still sticks out like a sore thumb on the album. “Girls Gone Wild” is a great dance track, but doesn’t display Madonna’s full capabilities.
Our favorite track on the album is “Love Spent,” an amazing electro-ballad that is beautifully sung and produced. We were told that an acoustic version of the song is set to be released. Our second favorite song is “Gang Bang,” which is wild, scary, and sexy all in the same breath. Guy Richie is still on Madonna’s mind. “Best Friend” and “Falling Free” will put a smile on his face. Sorry, Little Monsters—we love Lady Gaga, but this album makes everything she has ever done seem reductive.
Drowned in Sound
“I’ve been to a couple of playbacks,” comments one journalist after hearing Madonna’s MDNA in full for the first time. “The louder they play the album, the more worried the record label tend to be worried about it.”
‘How loud was this particular listening session in the bowels of Abbey Road?’, you ask. In a word, earsplitting.
For those of you unfamiliar with the story of MDNA so far, this is Madge’s 12th solo album in total, her first for Universal and it has spawned her lowest ever charting debut single in ‘Give Me All Your Luvin”. Its follow-up ‘Girl Gone Wild’ has hasn’t been rapturously received either, so there’s a fair bit riding on this swanky event attended by pretty much every major media outlet in the country… and your humble reporter.
Despite the obvious temptation to declare a phenomenal comeback after the disappointing Hard Candy or a continuation of that muddled slump, what follows is a guide to where the album is at. Not how good it is.
Opinions need time to fester and we wouldn’t want to embarrass ourselves 12 months later for the sake of some easy hyperbole. This is simply our account of what happened when a 53-year-old singer’s latest dance-pop record, primarily aimed at a market of teenage Radio 1 listeners, was played to a room of music critics in their early thirties.
1) Girl Gone Wild
The album’s second single, revealed via a cringey lyric video, sets the mould for MDNA. That mould being a whole lot of synth and some frivolous good time lyrics. A modern on twist on the old school fun of ‘Holiday’ and ‘Open Your Heart’.
2) Gang Bang
Despite the eye-raising title this track is more concerned with smoking firepower than demeaning group sex. An orgy of pithy lyrics for your earholes, this song includes the hilarious spoken word kiss off “If you’re gonna act like a bitch, you’re gonna die like a bitch!” Cue blazing shotgun My notes also mention the phrase, ‘Obligatory dubstep breakdown’. Take that as you will…
3) I’m Addicted
Produced by Benny Benassi, ‘I’m Addicted’ is the track from which MDNA gets its name. You can pick this up quite easily because Madge takes to chanting her album’s title repeatedly over some squelching electronic vibrations. A song with an irresistible chorus which comes pretty close to an instant favourite.
4) Turn Up The Radio
So far the Material Girl she hasn’t pulled any punches in pushing for a club-friendly audience but ‘Turn Up The Radio’ feels more like one for the oldies. That is, the theatrics are toned down a bit in favour of a whopping chorus which goes something like this, “Turn up the the radio, turn up the radio. Don’t ask me where I wanna go, we’ve gotta turn up the radio.” Big but in no way clever.
5) Give Me All Your Luvin’ feat. Nicki Minaj & M.I.A.
For all its flaws, it’s easy to see why ‘Give Me All Your Luvin” was selected as the lead single for MDNA. A likeable song with the guest vocals from two critically claimed and commercially successful rappers could have spelt chart gold. If only the whole affair didn’t seem so half-hearted.
6) Some Girls
The first of five William Orbit tracks on the album, this is a disappointment for those expecting the blissed out vibes of Ray Of Light. These come a little later, so for now it’s another slightly tired banger which goes heavy on the vocoder while pushing the vocals right to the back of the mix. Seems to be trying too hard to impress but will hopefully even out on repeated listens.
7) Superstar
Not the first song to see Madonna name check Marlon Brando, this is decent enough mid-album album fare. “Ooh la la, you’re a superstar” goes the idiosyncratic chorus and we bob our head along obligingly. As another bassy wobble reigns in, the album is beginning to feel like a more refined version of Britney’s Femme Fatale. We liked Femme Fatale, a lot.
I Don’t Give A
Just when we were getting worried MDNA was too light on personality ‘I Don’t Gives A’ arrives to allay our fears with lashings of brash sentiment. Tabloid hacks will no doubt have a field day with Guy Ritchie referencing lines like, “I tried to be a good girl. I tried to be your wife”. The real scene stealer comes at the end of the track however, with Nicki Minaj proclaiming, “There’s only one Queen and that’s Madonna. Bitch!” On this form, it’s hard to disagree with the ‘Stupid Hoe’ chanteuse.
9) I’m A Sinner
As everyone knows, Jesus Christ died for Madonna’s right to make mildly controversial statements. While not quite up there with ‘Like A Prayer’s’ comparison of solemn meditation to a good old blowjob, an “I’m a sinner and I like it that way” line at least keeps up the tradition of Catholic-baiting. William Orbit’s track through and through, this mix of looping drums and reverb-laden guitar tees the album up for a decent home run.
10) Love Spent
Featuring a banjo-lead intro and a proper (auto-tune assisted) key change, ‘Love Spent’ is a silly little romp which we were rather fond of. Much like Confessions On A Dance Floor there’s no real message to MDNA, just a series of four-to-the-floor tracks and more reflective numbers like this one.
11) Masterpiece
The album’s penultimate offering and its only straight up ballad, ‘Masterpiece’ is overwrought but underwhelming. Admittedly Madge isn’t famed for her cracking pipes yet a sudden reach for the high notes would do well to distract from a humdrum acoustic backing track. It’s no ‘Crazy For You’ that’s for sure.
12) Falling Free
A complete contrast to the opening synthetics of ‘Girl Gone Wild’, ‘Falling Free’ is a sombre and string-drenched affair. After an avalanche of opening dramatics, it’s pleasing to hear MDNA end on a reflective note. “We’re both free, free to go,” coos the world’s best-selling female artist of all time.
In truth, we would leave but there’s the small matter of some bonus tracks to skip through. Of this ramshackle bunch ‘Beautfiful Killer’ and ‘I Fucked Up’ reward our perseverance but ‘B-Day Song’ and ‘Best Friend’ feel a bit kitsch on first impressions at least.
Summary
Madonna has stepped back into the pop fray with a something for everyone. The first Demolition Crew and Benny Benasssi-produced half of MDNA sees her try and play to a synth-hungry 21st century audience. The second returns to the comforting fold of William Orbit’s mellow ambient bliss.
What we’ll be grappling with as we get down to our review is whether the record hangs to together well enough as a whole. In the opulent surroundings of a free bar and several bowls full of jelly beans, it’s easy to get carried away with your own enthusiasm. Still, we arrived at Abbey Road with no little trepidation and left reassured that Madge hasn’t succumbed to Top 40 drudgery yet. That will do for the meantime.
Evening Standard
Pretty much every band or musician who doesn’t split up or die reaches a point where they must accept that their fanbase is ageing with them and settle into making music of a signature style again and again. This is where Madonna is out on her own, still striving for contemporary relevance as she releases her 12th album later this month.
That she is increasingly ridiculed for seeking out the youngest, hottest collaborators, a pop vampire chasing eternal youth at 53, shouldn’t matter because here she consistently succeeds. Clubbers less than half her age will have to admit that she has earned her place on the dance floor with MDNA, its title presumably a cheeky play on the chemical name for ecstasy.
If party drugs had been available instead of jellybeans at the Abbey Road press preview for the album, the spiritual home of The Beatles would have witnessed some seriously embarrassing dance moves. MDNA doesn’t let up until the very end, driven by relentless techno beats until the underwhelming Latin sidestep, Masterpiece, near the finish. Weak early singles such as the cheerleader’s chant Give Me All Your Luvin’ (first heard at the Super Bowl) and the generic dance of Girl Gone Wild suggested she’s losing her touch but there’s lots more here that is fantastic.
Gang Bang is weird, minimal and very dark, lurching towards dubstep for a window-rattling climax as Madonna shouts: “Now drive, bitch!” I’m a Sinner, one of several new collaborations with her Ray of Light production partner William Orbit, fizzes along on a speeded-up We Will Rock You beat towards a gloriously catchy chorus. Both of the guest appearances from hotshot rapper Nicki Minaj are a fine fit.
It’s the blatant bid for A-list airplay that is Turn Up the Radio that should ensure that her glitterball shines brighter than ever. A breezy tune with an exhilarating breakdown and loads of stadium synths, it bodes well for a July 17 Hyde Park show that looks increasingly like a heck of a party. Out on March 26.
The Independent
With digital technology making it possible to create hits quite acceptably in your spare room, the older studios are feeling the pinch, and keen to find new ways of monetising their profile. Which may be why Abbey Road’s Studio 2, is tonight playing host to a playback of the new Madonna album, MDNA.
She’s opted to work primarily with three co-producers, the Italian Marco “Benny” Benassi, Frenchman Martin Solveig, and Englishman William Orbit – all of them celebrated for their cutting-edge work in electronica. Orbit, of course, has worked with Madonna before, helming the hugely successful Ray Of Light album; but he’s not the only echo of former glories present on MDNA, which at times seems determined to remind one of her previous achievements.
There’s the faint melodic similarity to “Hung Up” in part of “Give Me All Your Luvin’”; the reference to Brando in the obvious hit single “Superstar”, which reminds us of “Vogue”; and the religious undertones of “I’m A Sinner”, with its lines about “Mother Mary, full of grace” and “Jesus Christ up on the cross”, which is like a less complex play with the same themes so brilliantly manipulated in “Like A Prayer”.
Is she, one wonders, bringing the full weight of her CV to bear in re-establishing her pop dominance in the face of inroads made by the likes of Rihanna, Beyoncé and Lady Gaga? Because MDNA represents a determined, no-nonsense restatement of the Madonna brand following the lacklustre Hard Candy, on which her hip-hop collaborators failed to apply their talents as rigorously as they might.
Here, the likes of Solveig and Benassi, for all their parochial successes, are still hungry enough to ensure the zonking great beats and synthesiser riffs are sculpted for maximum propulsion. “Girl Gone Wild” opens the album with a variant on the “girls just wanna have fun” theme, Madonna’s introductory spoken “confession” quickly giving way to a fulsome electro stomper laced with blurry dubstep touches. “Gang Bang” is all too eager to court controversy, its martial beat and twitchy minimal strands of synth hosting the star’s arch commands to “Die, bitch!”. M.I.A. and Nicki Minaj guest on “Give Me All Your Luvin’”, chanting “L! U! V! Madonna!” before contributing babble-raps swamped by the techno pulse.
Minaj reappears on “I Don’t Give A”, like a henchman adding muscle to Madonna’s assertive claims of being the best: “There’s only one queen, and that’s Madonna, bitch!”. Wherever Lady Gaga is, her ears are probably burning.
Daily Star
“THERE’S only one queen…and that’s Madonna,” she sings on new tune I Don’t Give A, but Madonna knows she’s been overtaken by Lady Gaga and Katy Perry in the four years since Hard Candy.
That was hardly her best album anyway, so it’s surprising and a joy to report that Madonna is back at her absolute best with the biggest all-out dance album she’s ever made. The opening trio of songs are brutal techno, as heavy as The Prodigy, especially the bonkers murder fantasy Gang Bang. There are classic catchy pop songs such as Superstar and the only two slowies at the end, but MDNA is so geared up for the clubs it makes her previous disco album Confessions On A Dance Floor look chilled out. When Madonna’s able to rock a dancefloor as assuredly as I’m Addicted or Some Girls, it’s time for Gaga to start taking notes again Madge’s regal boast sounds genuine again. MDNA?
It’s prtty dmn grt.
The Sun
Now the singer is 53 and knocking out her 12th studio album, you might expect her tastes to change.
But no. Her appetite for making music to get a sweat on to is showing no sign of dinner lady’s arm. I’ve had a listen to new collection MDNA and it is packed with special little chemicals – including dubstep. Her daughter Lola is a huge fan of producer Skrillex and it sounds like mum might have been listening in. In fact, Lola gets a gig on backing vocals on the album’s stand-out track Superstar. Opener Gang Bang also follows the dubstep trend.
Nicki Minaj
Class … Nicki Minaj
Madge has gone back in the Confessions On A Dancefloor direction for an album packed with big pop classics. Her past release, Hard Candy, was a let-down for even her most loyal followers. So it’s a wise move to return to what she does best. And it’s all thanks to her successful partnerships with top European producers.
William Orbit – who was behind Ray Of Light – is back on board, plus Benny Benassi and French club DJ Martin Solveig. Having rappers M.I.A. and Nicki Minaj on board was a shrewd move and they bring quality as well as credibility to their guest appearances.
Guy Ritchie
In the firing line … Guy Ritchie
Lyrically, she spits out a few harsh words for ex-husband Guy Ritchie on I Don’t Give A. But she also accepts some responsibility for a broken marriage on bonus track I F***** Up. Fans will love I’m Addicted, Turn Up The Radio and Some Girls – they are classic Madge. Falling Free is the most stripped-down Madonna track I’ve heard for years. The album should be the spine of an incredible live show – just what her army of followers will want to hear.
It’s a return to form and out on March 26.
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